Sun City

Steve Van Zandt got several dozen of his closest musician friends together to sing a protest song about the Sun City boycott in 1985. South Africa was a much different place back then, and Sun City was a symbol of the decadence that the ruling class of whites enjoyed. The group went by the name Artists United Against Apartheid. From the YouTube page: http://youtu.be/aopKk56jM-I

Sun City is a large casino resort in the north-west of South Africa. During the apartheid years it was located in 'independent' state of Bophuthatswana, a phoney political entity that enabled white South Africans to visit a casino, gamble and attend strip shows, even though these activities were illegal within South Africa itself. The United Nations placed a cultural ban on artists touring or performing in South Africa - however many notable American and European acts ignored this and received large sums to perform at Sun City's massive auditorium. Amongst those to defy the ban included Linda Ronstadt, Queen, Laura Branigan, Rod Stewart, Julio Iglesias - and, ironically, black singers like Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick and Boney M. As a result, Van Zandt's song continually insists that "I ain't gonna play Sun City"

Although Americans were well aware of apartheid, most of us didn’t know much about Sun City or the cultural boycott until this song was released. The radio station I worked for at the time refused to play it, because of line about Ronald Reagan. It’s a killer song, though, and now it’s a historical document. I had the album, which is full of awesome songs about South Africa and its struggle against apartheid.